Ribbons of sand shift and swirl under the meticulous direction of Kyoto-based artist Naomi Nagata in her video for indie outfit The Sea and Cake’s newest single. Painstakingly charted over the course of a month, the hypnotizing stop-motion animation was created by forming lines and patterns in sand on a traditional Japanese paper scroll. Since discovering it during an animation course at the Edinburgh College of Art, Nagata has experimented with the medium for such exhibitions as 2009’s Seconds Under the Sun, a touring celebration of 13 Japanese animators, as well as showing with the gallery/record label Presspop and appearing on NHK, Japan’s national broadcaster. “On and On” is the lead track from Chicago-formed The Sea and Cake’s latest record Runner, the 10th studio album in a career that spans nearly two decades. Featuring on soundtracks for films like Walking and Talking, the cult group has long been known for pushing boundaries when it comes to genre. Runner is a departure from the band’s earlier jazz- and Brazilian-influenced sound, towards a more minimal feel that showcases the melodic vocals of Sam Prekop. “We're a fairly insular group,” says bassist Archer Prewitt of their collaboration with Nagata, whose work he calls “precise, poetic and atmospheric.” For this video, they left the visuals entirely in the artist’s capable hands: “When we trust an artist, we give them free reign to develop their own contribution to a project. I really like the way Naomi's animation turned out: lean and imaginative.”